Cottonwoods can be annoying

By Buck Thompson

Posted:
04/29/2012 01:00:00 AM MDT

Dear Buck:

I've unknowingly bought a house that's next door to a cottonwood tree. The fluff is blowing all over my backyard and I'm allergic to it. I've offered my neighbor to pay half the cost of removing the tree and he has refused. I can't go in my backyard. Can anything be done legally? My second question is when will this stuff stop blowing around? Signed, Too Fluffy

Dear Fluffy: If the tree is dying or unhealthy, you might be able to make a case with city code enforcement to get it removed, but otherwise you might be out of luck.

Even if you could get the tree removed it probably wouldn't solve your problem. Loveland tends to have a lot of cottonwoods. David Barnes, who founded the city in 1877, planted them along every street of the fledgling city, according to the Loveland Historic Preservation Survey.

According to master gardeners with the Colorado State University Extension Office, cottonwood pollen in April causes problems for allergy sufferers. The cotton itself, which is usually shed in June but may be coming down earlier this year, does not cause allergies. "People with allergy symptoms during June cotton distribution are probably suffering from other wind-borne pollen -- from grasses, weeds or other trees," according to the Extension Office's PlantTalk Colorado on cottonwood cotton.

Because trees have been leafing out early this spring, the master gardeners at the office couldn't say when the cottonwood pollen will stop this year. But usually it's done by the end of April.